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Shooting in Baltimore; 90 Million Americans Under Threat of Severe Weather; Weather Causes Wave of Flight Delays; Russian Arms Dealer Running for Office; Unrest in France; TikTok Parent Launches Lemon8. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired July 03, 2023 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[09:30:00]

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What unfolded here on Saturday night was a scene like many other around the country right now. We are in the middle of the holiday leading into July 4th and people had gathered here for a block party. This was supposed to be a celebration of community and the families that live here, but it became deadly shortly after midnight. That's when police say shots rang out. Two people are dead, including an 18-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man. Twenty-eight people were hurt by gunfire, many of them teenagers, some as young as just 13 years old.

Now, as you said, police have not identified a suspect or suspects yet. However, they believe there are multiple people behind this shooting.

Now, we heard from Mayor Scott earlier this morning. He was encouraging the community to come forward and share any information that they might have about this incident. Also critical about guns all around the country, not just here in Baltimore, saying that this is a problem across the entire country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BRANDON SCOTT (D-BALTIMORE, MD): We will not rest until we find those who cowardly decided to shoot up this block party and carry out acts of violence, with which we know will be illegal guns, but we -- no further updates will be given. A press update later today with any new things. But as of right now, we are still investigating, going through every single lead, every minute, every second of footage, everything that we have to find out who decided to disrupt this peaceful event in this way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: And, John, I was here yesterday speaking to people who live in this neighborhood, who told me it was an absolutely chaotic scene when they heard those gunshots. People running for cover, trying to take shelter, running for their lives. People here are shocked, they were scared and they're sad that this community has been impacted by gun violence.

John.

BERMAN: Gloria Pazmino, on the scene, great to have you there. Thanks for being with us this morning.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, 90 million Americans are facing severe weather threats heading into the Independence Day holiday. Powerful storms are expected to spread from Mississippi to Massachusetts, bringing wind gusts, hail and possibly tornadoes in some areas now. A record number of travelers passed through U.S. airports on Friday, but the weather has created travel nightmares for those wanting to spend the holiday away from home. So far 86 flights have been canceled today, but that number is almost certain to rise as storms start to pop up all across the country.

CNN's Pete Muntean is live at Reagan National Airport, where I'm pretty sure he has a private room where he stays.

We also have CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar.

Allison, we're going to start with you. Looking at that mad and as things happen, what do we expect and where do we expect these storms to pop up?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: All right, so there's going to be two separate areas of concern going forward today. The first is going to be across portions of the Midwest and the high plains. The secondary area is really just kind of up and down much of the East Coast. And if you remember, some of those are the same areas that were just hit yesterday. Again, in total, nearly 300 total storm reports. The vast majority of them being damaging winds. But you can see here how many of these areas we're having dealing with large hail, trees that came down, power lines that were down, and also the potential for a few tornadoes.

Right now the heaviest rain is going to be across portions of the northeast. But as we transition into the afternoon, we get that heating of the day, you're going to really start to notice more of those strong to severe thunderstorms fire up this afternoon and into the evening for both of these areas.

Now, the main threats are still going to be damaging winds, the potential for some large hail and, yes, even some tornadoes possible from Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., New York, stretching down into Atlanta. That secondary wave that is set to come in likely about 2:00 to 3:00. In a lot of these areas is when you're really going to start to notice those showers and thunderstorms firing back up. They will continue into the evening hours and then even more showers and thunderstorms, unfortunately, for the holiday itself tomorrow. So, if you have some outdoor plans, most of these areas aren't expecting a washout, but you will have to be cautious if you've got some plans say late afternoon and into the evening when the bulk of these severe thunderstorms are really set to impact.

You've got this other area over here in the Midwest and across the high plains and then still dealing with some strong to severe thunderstorms say from the areas of Massachusetts stretching back into Mississippi. The main threats tomorrow are expected to be damaging winds and the potential for some hail, but also some isolated flooding cannot be ruled out as well.

And then in addition to that we still are dealing with the heat across portions of the southeast and then some new warnings popping up out in some western states as well.

SIDNER: Nothing says summer like travel nightmares and big storms.

Let's go now to Pete Muntean.

Thank you, Allison.

It looks like, dare I say, things are pretty calm behind you there at that airport, but this has been an incredibly busy travel season.

[09:35:05]

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, things are starting off relatively smooth right now, Sara, considering the fact that the numbers have been so huge. The TSA screened 2.5 million people yesterday, another 2.5 million people the day before that. Those are big numbers on their own.

But think about this number on Friday, 2.88 million people screened at airports across the country. It's not a pandemic era record, it is an all-time record. It bested the big number back on the Sunday after Thanksgiving 2019. So, we've not seen a number that big since December 1st of 2019.

I just checked Flight Aware. The cancellations and delays relatively low right now when you compare it to last week, 87 nationwide, about 800 delays. Think about just yesterday we saw 600 cancellations nationwide, and that number really crept up when these thunderstorms hit the East Coast. And there's a bit of a warning now from the FAA saying that we could see ground stops as the day goes on, especially in the afternoon in big hubs like New York, in Philadelphia, in Baltimore, in D.C., all the way down to Miami.

The good news, says Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on CNN, is that things are starting to get back on track after all of the cancellations we saw last week.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: We're watching more severe -- potential for severe weather. That's what touched off all of these problems about a week ago. But you look at where we were a year ago, where even on blue sky days with no severe weather there were really unacceptable levels of cancellations and delays. We've come a long way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Last week United Airlines canceled the most flights of any airline in the United States. Its CEO, Scott Kirby, has released a new memo in which he says the airline is going to look at its crew scheduling system, it's going to partner better with the FAA. Again, Kirby put a lot of blame on the FAA for these problems and air traffic control scheduling issues last week. He says that's really what caused the snowball effect and all of these cascading cancellations for United. But then he also says the airline's going to look at its schedule at Newark. That's one of its major hubs. He says the airline just may be putting too many flights through Newark.

Still, we are not out of the woods just yet. Another huge test for the airlines coming up. All these people coming home all at once and the TSA says, when it's all said and done, when you add up every day since before the holiday, and through July 5th, they'll screen 17.7 million people in total, Sara. It's a lot.

SIDNER: It's a heck of a lot of people.

Pete Muntean, thank you.

There's a gentleman who doesn't even worry that he might miss his flight. He's waving. He's having a good time there at the airport. All things are good where you are.

Thank you, Pete.

And as a reminder, if you don't want to deal with travel hassles, CNN's July 4th special returns tomorrow night with an all-star lineup. Celebrate with spectacular fireworks and performances from Demi Lovato, Duran Duran, Post Malone, Shania Twain, Brad Paisley, and that's just to name a few of the people that are going to be performing. "The Fourth in America," live, starts at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

John, you can just sit on your couch and enjoy it.

BERMAN: Duran Duran. Like, "Union of the Snake."

SIDNER: I mean, so good.

BERMAN: I mean, on Fourth of July, what's better than that.

All right, the man freed in a prisoner swap for Brittney Griner, a man known as the merchant of death, he's now running for election.

And as lawmakers debate bans on TikTok over security concerns, a new app from the controversial Chinese company is on the assent in the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:42:58]

BERMAN: This morning, the convicted arms dealer who was set free in a prisoner swap for basketball star Brittney Griner has found something of a second act in Russia. Russian state media reports that Viktor Bout is now a candidate for a far right party in a regional election.

CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman joins us live from eastern Ukraine.

Apparently being a prisoner, a convicted arms dealer, not an impediment to public office in Russia, Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not at all. In fact, he spent ten years in an American penitentiary. But back in Russia I think that's probably a star on his forehead as far as they're concerned.

Now, he's a candidate for the liberal democratic party of Russia, which, of course, it's important to note it is neither liberal nor democratic. Now, this was a party that was long run by Vladimir Genanofski (ph), who was a very flamboyant figure. In fact, John, back in 1997, I interviewed him in Baghdad. A very interesting interview. After telling me he loved journalists so much he wanted to strangle them, he did gift me a bottle of vodka with a label with his face on it, as well as a party t-shirt.

Now, this is an ultra-nationalist party that believes that Russia is a natural super power and that Russia, as it stands now, should be restored to its so-called natural borders, which include all of Ukraine, Belarus and central Russia. And this is a party that is very strongly in support of Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine.

Now, it's important to point out that the seat that Mr. Bout is going for is in a distant region in the Russian hinter (ph) land and it's just a regional council. So even though it represents something of a return to public life for him, it's a pretty insignificant seat he's pursuing.

John.

[09:45:00]

BERMAN: No, but, who knows, it could be a stepping stone to something else.

Ben Wedeman, always good to receive a gift, even from someone who apparently wants to strangle you.

Great to see you this morning. Thank you.

Sara.

SIDNER: Well said, John.

Now to France, where protests there continue to flare after a teenage boy was killed by police during a traffic stop. Police detained at least 157 people overnight.

(VIDEO CLIP) SIDNER: Believe it or not, that wasn't as bad as some nights prior, but some 45,000 security forces were deployed across the country in the sixth night of demonstrations. France has been gripped by violent demonstrations following that shooting. French President Emmanuel Macron has condemned the shooting of the teenager, calling it inexcusable, but, he says, protesters, he believes, are exploiting the teen's death.

Nic Robertson is in Paris for us.

Nic, there is a message now being sent by the boy's grandmother. What are you hearing?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, she's calling for calm. She's saying her grandson is dead, but she says stop the violence because you're damaging your own communities. And this is a sort of an outgrowth of that in this community where the mayor was targeted over the weekend in his office behind the razor wire that protesters couldn't get in. They targeted him in his house. His wife in there with young children tried to escape. She broke her leg badly.

So, people here in this particular suburb of Paris have come out here in a show of solidarity for the mayor, for their communities, for the sense of what Nahel's grandmother is saying, that don't burn the buses, don't burn the city halls, we all rely on that. Your mothers rely on that.

I think that's one of the things we've heard from the government as well that so many of these protesters are young protesters, 2,000 detained, average age 17, some as young as 13. The government's message is to parents to keep your children indoors. They've treated this as a security problem beginning to turn their attention to some of the underlying concerns about racism within the police force.

But this, today, is really all about a community coming out in support of their mayor when he's in trouble and coming out with that message, like the grandmother, just saying it's time to stop. Stop burning the buses. We all need them. Let's get on with life. And that does seem to be the trend. The violence far less last night than the previous night and the previous night. That seems to be the direction at the moment. They're ebbing away these protests.

SIDNER: You have mentioned many times this isn't just about the shooting, that there are other frustrations that have been brewing there.

Nic Robertson, thank you so much for your reporting there from Paris.

John.

BERMAN: Social media influencers jumping on a new app from TikTok's controversial parent company, and that's raising eyebrows among some security experts.

Former Vice President Mike Pence says, yes, he called Arizona's governor after the 2020 election, but not under pressure from former President Trump.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:51:56]

BERMAN: This morning, both Mississippi and Georgia are joining a growing list of states to ban the use of TikTok on any government- issued devices. More and more lawmakers from the U.S. and around the world are pushing to block the Chinese-owned app over concerns with user data. And even as those concerns mount, a new app launched by TikTok's parent company is starting to gain traction in the U.S.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MADISON SHAPIRO, INFLUENCER, SISTERSNACKING: People started saying, oh, have you heard about Lemon8? What is this, like Lemon8? What - I don't know.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With more than half a million followers on TikTok and Instagram combined -

YURKEVICH (on camera): You guys are known as

SHAPIRO: Sistersnacking.

YURKEVICH (voice over): Even they hadn't heard of Lemon8.

SHAPIRO: People were saying it was TikTok's new app, kind of like a mix between Instagram and Pinterest.

YURKEVICH: They joined Lemon8 in April and have less than 40 followers, but say it isn't about follower count for them just yet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you hear about something like this, especially if it's from TikTok, you want to make sure your some of the first people there.

YURKEVICH: Lemon8 is owned by ByteDance, the same company behind TikTok. That's raising some eyebrows among security experts and lawmakers.

But TikTok has 150 million users in the U.S., compared to Lemon8, which has only 900,000 active monthly users, and say they're creating a community where people discover and share content related to beauty, fashion, travel and more in an authentic and diverse environment.

LINDSAY GORMAN, SENIOR FELLOW, GERMAN MARSHAL FUND - ALLIANCE FOR SECURING DEMOCRACY: Even when you're talking about a platform like Lemon8, which can start with something that seems quite benign, there might be less of a national security concern, but four or five years ago, when we started raising the alarm about TikTok, we encountered the same thing.

YURKEVICH: Now, bills like the Restrict Act are swirling around Congress to address concerns that foreign countries could access U.S. user data through social media apps.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two years ago I became the CEO of TikTok.

YURKEVICH: TikTok's CEO testified in March he's seen no evidence the Chinese government has accessed any of that data. Lemon8 declined to answer questions about where data on its app is stored.

SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): Good afternoon, everyone.

YURKEVICH: The bill's co-sponsor, Senator Mark Warner, told CNN, today we're talking about TikTok, but as the growth of Lemon8 shows, new apps and tools are popping up constantly. We need a real strategy to address them, no more whack-a-mole.

GORMAN: I think it's definitely possible that ByteDance is seeing some of the writing on the wall with TikTok in the U.S. and is looking for a plan b.

YURKEVICH: NK Madanl says she was hired and paid by an influencer agency to create content promoting Lemon8.

NK MADANL: I was a little skeptical at first. I didn't know what it was. I had never heard of it.

YURKEVICH: But now she says she's having fun exploring what Lemon8 could be, but it's no rival to TikTok, yet.

MADANL: That buzz of Lemon8 came from the almost removal of TikTok. A lot more people are talking about it now, but I think it is solely because of that mini scare that we all had.

YURKEVICH: And where consumers are, brands follow.

[09:55:03]

FIONA CO CHAN, FOUNDER: I think social media has driven a lot of our organic awareness. So, I think it counts for about 85 percent of our sales.

YURKEVICH: The beauty brand Euphoria found massive success on TikTok, and is seeing if it can squeeze some more juice out of Lemon8.

CO CHAN: I think the fact that it's created by a parent company that's really successful, that's very, very successful at creating a social media platform, that was really interesting, and I'm watching it kind of pick up steam. It's still to be determined if Lemon8's going to be that platform for us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YURKEVICH: And we asked the influencers that we spoke to whether or not they share in these data privacy concerns and the connection that both TikTok and Lemon8 have to China, and they said that the do not. They believe that the good outweighs bad. You have to remember, many of these influencers have started businesses on TikTok, they have huge following and make a ton of money and they hope the same thing happens with Lemon8. They admit that it's simply not there yet, but they say that the power and strength of Lemon8 is actually the connection to its parent company, ByteDance. They've seen what ByteDance has done with TikTok and they said it simply could happen with Lemon8. Not there quite yet, John, but they're keeping an eye on it, and that's why they joined the platform, John.

BERMAN: Man, trying to be hip is like a full-time business. And then you add the security concerns on top of that. There's a lot going on.

All right, Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you very much for that.

Sara.

SIDNER: Ain't that the truth.

All right, this morning Mike Pence says he doesn't remember being pressured by Donald Trump to call and ask the Arizona former governor to find evidence that the 2020 election was stolen. This as the DOJ continues its investigation into Trump's efforts to overturn the election results. All right.

Also coming up, there has been a bunch of travelers, record-breaking number of travelers this weekend. Be aware, though, severe storms are brewing. Ninety million Americans may be affected by those.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:00]